By VOM News Team
The kickoff to the Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) football Competitions for girls in Kisoro district has been uninspiring as key stakeholders in the game of sports have expressed concerns about lack of adequate and reliable medical response teams at every game during the competition.
The comments come on the backdrop of a tragic death of one Kevin Barinda, captain of St. Peter’s Vocational Secondary School in Kisoro Municipality, who succumbed to a head injury sustained after a head-to-head collision with a player from another school.
Barinda, who was in Senior Four, was described by family and friends as a bright star, both on the pitch and off the pitch (academically).
Tragically for Kisoro, no School managed to qualify for Nationals after all four teams including Kabami Secondary, Muhabura Shine, St. Andrews and Kisoro Vision which pulled out citing other reasons.
St Gerald’s Senior Secondary School Nyakibale, Rukungiri district emerged victorious with the regional trophy.
As the girls’ competition in Kisoro entered its second day, several head teachers expressed the need to improve the level of awareness and response at football pitches in case a student suffers a serious injury.
With most of the football pitches waterlogged from heavy downpour of rain, students who are sufficiently dressed in sporting gear can easily suffer injuries on the pitch as a result of falling and sliding in water.
A senior Official at Shaaza Player Ground Steven Hafasha says the death of Barinda was tragic however the school authorities did the best they could at the time to rush the injured player to a nearby clinic, thereafter which he was transferred to St. Francis hospital, Mutolere where he died the next day.
St Peters Vocational Secondary School head teacher George Zihuramye says the school decided not to send their girls into the competition because the loss of one of their own is still too fresh on their minds.
Zihuramye explained that the school had to encounter various financial expenses in hospital bills and contribution to burial arrangements amounting to over one Million Ugandan shillings.
“The district leadership did not offer any support to the school nor to the bereaved family. The best they could do is to come and attend the burial, this in my opinion was not enough to inspire confidence in the grieving family and students who had just lost a star player and friend”, Zihuramye explained.
The decision by St Peter’s Vocational Secondary School to forfeit all the games in the girl’s competition automatically reduce the chances of a female student from the school advancing to nationals and attaining 1 .2 extra points to university.
Low levels of Preparedness evident
The scene at Shaaza and Seseme playgrounds is one of comedy and frustration as female players tug each other shirts pulling and shoving one another in hopes to moving the football in swamp like turf.
Cheers and Ululation from students can always be counted upon as friends from different schools get the chance to meet and blow off some ‘book steam.’
Some head teachers were surprised to learn that 100,000 Ugandan shillings had to be paid up front before their students could be allowed onto the pitch.
Others saw their star players being removed from the pitch for failing to pass the screening test aimed at eliminating Abacuba (mercenaries) from the game of football.
Using a pass slip and a document from NIRA, the officials granted permission to players who sat their Primary Leaving Examinations in 2003, anyone below that year was automatically disqualified.
This process also irked some teachers who said it was an inconvenience to have their students carry NIRA documents, an excuse that was overlooked by officials.
As the girls tournament progresses, the football committee of Kisoro and elsewhere should strongly consider how best to improve the weakness in the sport so that Kevin Barinda’s death will not have been in vain.
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